Duty of Care

[Isiris]

Wonder if anyone can advise on this.

 

Our water is charged via a water meter. Today a bill dropped on my floor up to Sept 14. It says I have used 132 M3 of water in 3 months. Now according to the Water Counsil the average consumption for 4 people in a house is 164m3, we are near that in 3 months.

 

I contacted the company and they looked on their system and said yes, the meters telling me you have had a continuous feed of water in May, June, July, Aug and Sept. Im looking now and October is the same. You have a leak.

 

My question is this.

 

SURELY they have a duty of care to their customers. Their system is telling them I have a leak but they have made no contact to tell me. I do not know what the leak is and have plumbers coming tomorrow (Relatives so no excessive fees.)

 

I do feel that if I wasnt on a meter then the Company would have contacted me as the water would have been uncharged for.

 

Thoughts?

[Bandit127]

Their responsibility ends at your side of the meter (but they are still responsible for the joint on your side of the meter). If you have a leak between that and your house it is your responsibility.

 

If you have a leaking meter they are responsible. It happened to me and they dug the path up and re-sealed it at their cost. They should investigate that possibility before condemning your plumbing from the meter.

 

Be aware too that a dripping tap can double your consumption in a bad case.

[edge_of_the_map]

Be polite in the initial stages of the investigation.

I had a bill for £1000 more than the usual quarterly amount. Investigation showed it was my plumbing at fault, but Anglian water gave me a one-off concession that wiped out the cost of the leak. If I was confrontational I doubt if they would have given me that.

We averaged out the readings for a few weeks after the leak was repaired and that's what I paid.

[Isiris]

EOTM

 

Yes i think that would be fair. I dont mind paying for half but seeing as they have the ability to see that there was a problem for 5 months I would have hoped they could have contacted me.

[Carningli]

Water Company's would not appear to have a duty of care.To the extent that even Trading Standards will not become involved in water disputes because they have no competition. The only thing they worry about is bad publicity which threatens their image and most of their generous actions are prompted from the requirement to keep their noses clean. All they are interested in is billing you for what they claim goes through your meter accurate or otherwise.

 

 

If you need support in making a claim against a Water Company for some reason, reasonably out of your control make contact with the Water Consumer Council. They are aware of most of the Water Company's attitudes towards customers problems.

[Suzie Surf Girl]

most water companies will give you an allowance if you have a leak once its fixed if you think you have a problem ask them to come out and do a leak test if you can't do it yourself.